Essay
Murder Evaluation Plan
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An in-depth evaluation of the law on murder. The plan provides a balanced argument and is of an A* standard.
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“A rickety structure set upon shaky foundations”Terminology
‘Unlawful killing of reasonable creature in being’
This definition is likely to cause confusion amongst laypeople, limiting the law’s
accessibility. It should be updated to the simple definition of the ‘unlawful killing of a
human being’ to increase understanding and make the law more transparent.
‘Death’
There is no single definition of ‘death’, meaning problems of with consistency could
arise.
Whilst Malcherek recognised that switching off a life support machine does not
constitute murder, there is still much ambiguity surrounding the term.
For this reason, different groups have disputed whether a foetus can be regarded as
a ‘human being’.
The case of AG’s Reference (No. 3 of 1994) suggests that a foetus is not a human
being.
However, the common law needs to be consolidated to clarify this position.
Mens Rea
The mens rea of ‘malice aforethought’ is suggests that hatred or evil intent and
premeditation is required.
Case law does not substantiate this, as demonstrated by Vickers, where D attempted
to burgle a sweet shop and intended to cause serious harm when confronted by the
owner.
Therefore, it is clear that term needs to be altered to resolve issues with misleading
terminology.
Euthanasia
The fact that Lord Coke's definition does not account for cases of murder out of love
or compassion is highly problematic.
This suggests that a tailor-made offence of mercy killing needs to be created to avail
a defendant of complete liability.
The fact that judges can differentiate when they set a defendant’s tariff can be seen
to resolve this problem to an extent.
However, it does not avoid the issue with defendants of varying levels of intention
being placed in the same category.
It is unjust that a serial killer such as Peter Sutcliffe and a defendant intending serious
harm like Cunningham is labelled in the same way as an accessory to euthanasia such
as Francis Ingles. As a result, it seems clear that the law in this area needs to be
reformed to prevent it from having such a wide scope. In line with this, it can be
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